A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to barricade devices for control of vehicular and foot traffic, and, more particularly, to an adapter that is detachably insertable in the upper end openings of conventional traffic cones to support warning tape or other barrier material thereon.
B. Related Art
As is well known, temporary barricades are commonly used to control or restrict vehicular and/or foot traffic for a variety of reasons. A well-known example for the use of temporary barricades is to direct vehicles or pedestrians away from a construction area or other job site. Another example is use by law enforcement to exclude unauthorized personnel from crime or accident scenes. As used herein, the terms “barricade” and “barrier” are equivalent in meaning.
A major issue with temporary barricades is portability. By nature such barricades are intended to be erected on a temporary basis, while the construction or other activity is taking place, after which they are removed to allow the vehicles or people to resume their normal course and the components of the barricade are removed and transported to storage or for use at another site. In order to be effective, however, the barricades must generally include some form of horizontal member or members, together with supports that elevate the horizontal member or members a sufficient distance above the ground to form an easily visible “fence” that will not be missed or disregarded by drivers or pedestrians. Use of horizontal members formed of a rigid material, as in the case of traditional wooden “sawhorse” barricades, presents obvious drawbacks in terms of the difficulty and labor involved in transportation and installation/removal. Rope can be used but due to its flexibility must be supported at fairly close intervals to prevent unacceptable sagging, and rope also lacks suitable visibility for many applications. Barricade tape, typically formed of low-stretch polyethylene, is a greatly improved and much more visible alternative to rope and is widely used (for example, as “POLICE” tape); nevertheless it too must be supported and/or held tight at regular intervals to be kept horizontal, and also to prevent excessive fluttering or twisting that would reduce its visibility and also expose it to being caught on vehicles or obstructions.
A wide range of dedicated supports are of course available, however these frequently present transportation, labor and storage issues of their own. Moreover, use of dedicated supports means added inventory and therefore additional purchase and storage costs for the municipality, construction company or other owner. However, such owners typically already have on hand a large number of conventional traffic cones, sometimes referred to as safety cones or construction cones. Traffic cones are typically orange or some other bright color and are commonly molded of synthetic rubber or a somewhat flexible thermoplastic such as vinyl. They are inexpensive, easy to deploy, and nest compactly when stacked so as to take up little room when transported or stored. Most have a frusticonical form with a hole at the top in which a light or sign may be set, and some have a boss that acts as a handle and about which a rope or tape may be tied; with regard to the latter, however, repeatedly tying and untying the numerous knots requires significant time and labor and may also create a safety hazard under some conditions, and in the case of tape the knotting inevitably leads to twisting/crushing of the material so that its visibility is compromised and the material possibly damaged to the point that the tape cannot be reused.
The device shown in U.S. patent publication number 2011/0220010 represents an approach to supporting barrier tape from traffic cones without having to tie or wrap the tape around bosses on the cones. Specifically, the cited application shows a double-ended plug body with a vertical slot that holds the barrier tape. Although clearly a welcome advance over the approach of having to tie the tape around the end of the cone, the device nevertheless possesses certain drawbacks that are significant in the context of practical use in the field. Foremost of these is that the device relies on a push-in engagement with the top opening of the traffic cone: the plastic/rubber material stretches as the conical end of the plug is forced into the opening and then contracts to engage a channel above the conical end to hold the plug against being withdrawn. Although the materials of which traffic cones are constructed are generally flexible, both for safety purposes and to avoid being crushed if driven over, they are not necessarily optimized for resilient expansion/contraction and are therefore subject to wear and distortion if such plugs are repeatedly inserted and retracted, to the point where they may no longer be usable with the device in the referenced application. Moreover, traffic cones by nature lead a hard life and the opening may be distorted or damaged from service to the point where it will not work with a plug-type insert to begin with. Furthermore, while not overly difficult to install, the plug-type insert is difficult to withdraw, a point which is in fact stressed by the referenced application; removal of the plug-type inserts is thus labor-intensive and time consuming at best, and possibly damaging to the openings of the cones, however leaving the inserts in place makes it impossible to use the cones with other types of inserts (e.g., signs or lights) and also makes it difficult or impossible for the cones to nest compactly when stacked. Leaving the plug bodies in place also renders them susceptible to damage, for example, during handling or when run over by a car when serving as a conventional traffic cone on a highway.